Spawned by the Novia Uniao camp, Barao made his promotional debut
at WEC
49 in June, as he submitted Anthony
Leone with a third-round armbar at the Rexall Place in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The 23-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu
brown belt has secured nearly half (11) of his 23 career victories
by submission. Barao has rattled off 13 consecutive wins since his
December 2007 encounter with Claudemir
Souza ended in a no contest.

Cariaso will carry a four-fight winning streak into the match. The
29-year-old San Francisco-based muay Thai practitioner last
appeared five months ago, when he defeated Rafael
Rebello by unanimous decision at WEC 49. Training out of the
Fight and Fitness gym, Cariaso has posted six of his 10 wins by
decision. He suffered his only career defeat under the EliteXC
banner in March 2008, succumbing to first-round punches from
Mark
Oshiro.